Theory that RNA spawned first organisms gets boost from common compound

By Sam Lemonick, 21:35 PM November 27, 2013

A common biochemical may help forge a missing link in a popular but unproven theory about how life got started.

One of the leading ideas of how loose molecules evolved to become complex cells begins with the hereditary molecule ribonucleic acid. Modern cells use RNA to make proteins, the workhorses of cellular function, but RNA likely preceded both proteins and DNA.

Evolution relies on reproduction, so any RNA-based origin-of-life theory has to include a way for RNA to copy itself. In previous ...